billcr12
First and foremost, Bob Dylan is a genius and a perfect subject for interpretation. A great idea with mixed results in I'm Not There. Cate Blanchett opens as Jude Quinn, a mid 1960s era Dylan getting on stage but quickly shown in a motorcycle accident. The British actress looks uncannily like the folk singer, especially in silhouette. Marcus Carl Franklin portrays Woody Guthrie and the eleven year old boy proves to be a major talent. He travels the country by train and in a time shift travels to a hospital to perform a song for the real Woody Guthrie. Christian Bale is in a documentary style portion as fans praise the great artist as the voice of a generation as he treats and reporters with contempt. Bobby does not come off to well as a human being.Later on, Bale reappears as a born again pastor, which showcases Dylan's brief Christian period , preaching to a congregation and singing the gospel tune "Pressing On" from the album "Saved."Heath Ledger is in a film within the film as an actor playing the Christian Bale character in the least interesting part of I'm Not There. The second unnecessary segment is Richard Gere as Billy the Kid looking for his dog and meeting Pat Garrett and a convoluted storyline with a funeral, a jail break and back to the train once again. I found the whole experience a disjointed mess with some fine acting. I love Dylan's work, so this is a wasted effort.
ice ruby red
If you are thinking about seeing this movie I would suggest that you research Dylan first; otherwise you will be lost from the get-go, like I was.You need to know that the characters all represent different aspects of Dylan, and that even though they are "Dylan" they have different names. Some of the Dylan aspects are personified as a young black boy using the name Woody Guthrie, a woman, and a middle-aged Billy the Kidd, for example. And the film jumps from character to character and then back again, frequently.Chances are, if you are not an art film aficionado, you won't care for this one. On the other hand, if you do your Dylan homework, you may very well enjoy it even though it isn't typical mainstream movie fare.
Syl
Todd Haynes has delivered his best film to date about the multiple facets of living legend musician, poet, and writer, Bob Dylan. While Dylan has been awarded the Kennedy Center Honors, this film is quite a tribute to the man's legacy and his role forever in the world and not just America. For most of us, Bob Dylan is a songwriter and musician but also philosopher, poet, and activist. His music inspired people and still does. The film is a mixture of six characters including an African American child Marcus Carl Franklin who played Woody in the 1950s. There is Cate Blanchett's well-deserved Oscar nomination for supporting actress as Jude Quinn in the mid-60s in England where the song, "Mr. Jones," comes into play. Bruce Greenwood played the inspirational role of a British television journalist. There is Richard Gere in the 1800s small town with his dog, Henry. There is Ben Whishaw who is not used enough in the film. Of course, the late Heath Ledger played a significant role opposite French actress, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Michelle Williams played Coco, an actress, as well. This film is perfect casting. The writing might need more tweaking and the ending was confusing but the originality is what I'll take away from it. This film is a perfect tribute to Bob Dylan.
Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3)
This was an audacious concept. Having Bob Dylan portrayed by half a dozen different actors assuming fictionalized personas. As if the real Bob Dylan wasn't full enough of terminal contradictions. But as the producers of this boring, pretentious mess could only paraphrase and not quote directly from any documented reality (what is reality?) except Dylan's songs, of course, the film looses itself in the meanders of absolute arbitrariness and sundry parallel universes in spite of the best efforts of some worthy actors and talents. I lived through the sixties and Dylan's rise to celebrity and I didn't recognize anything of my perceptions of him in this film, probably because either the film or Dylan himself (who knows, right?) is more preoccupied by the flotsam and jetsam of terminal hype, the fame game and/or celebrity rehab scenarios to actually care what a man's music is supposed to mean (if anything). If you ever saw anything worthy in Dylan's music, you'll think twice about his talent after seeing this film. If you always thought he was a fake and a flake, your opinion will not be seriously challenged by this delirious and wasteful Actors' Studio job-creating program.
AD
